Twice-Baked Italian Sweet Potato

Ingredients:

1 package  (19 ounces) Johnsonville ® Sweet Italian Sausage Links, removed from casing* *Cut sausage link end to end, about three-quarters of the way through. Flip sausage link over, grasp casing and pull off.

5 small  sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces each)
2 tablespoons  olive oil
3/4pound  leeks, white and light green parts only (quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced, about 1 ½ cups)
1teaspoon  fresh sage, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4teaspoon pepper
2/3cup sour cream
3/4cup Gruyere cheese, grated, divided
1/4cup green onion, thinly sliced (for garnish)


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Line a baking pan with foil. Use a fork and poke the sweet potatoes on two sides. Arrange them on the baking sheet and bake in the oven until tender when pierced with a skewer, 40-60 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking,

Crumble the sausage into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks, until no longer pink, 5-8 minutes.

Transfer the cooked sausage to a large plate. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the same pan; add the leeks, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. When the ingredients start to sizzle, lower the heat and continue cooking and stir frequently, until the leeks are soft and the edges are starting to turn golden (10-15 minutes). Add the leeks and herbs to the reserved sausage and cover to keep warm.

Once the sweet potatoes are baked, allow them to cool slightly and cut them in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop out the flesh into a large bowl, keeping the skin intact by leaving 1/8” – ¼” inch of flesh in the potato shells. Arrange the empty potato skins on the baking sheet until ready to fill.

Mash the scooped flesh with a potato masher until smooth. Stir in the sour cream. Fold the sausage and leeks into the mashed potato, mix in ½ cup of the cheese. Mound the filling into the potato skins and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of grated Gruyere cheese.
Preheat the broiler in your oven. Broil the stuffed potatoes on the middle rack of your oven until the cheese bubbles and starts to turn golden about 4 minutes.

Garnish with a sprinkle of green onions and serve immediately.

Recipe shared from: http://www.johnsonville.com/recipe/twice-baked-italian-sweet-potato.html

cook the decased sausage in a large skillet on medium heat.